An oxygen mask is required for each passenger seated in an aircraft cabin. The oxygen mask must be positioned in such a way that, when the mask deploys or drops, the mask is easily visible and reachable by the seated passenger in all possible seat configurations of the aircraft.
In a first class suite of an aircraft, and in particular in a high-walled first class suite where the ceiling of the aircraft cabin is raised, the space above the ceiling is reduced and becomes extremely limited. This is especially true in the outboard seating areas where the ceiling panels of the aircraft cabin merge into the side wall panels. In these areas of the aircraft cabin the space above the ceiling panels is significantly reduced. This area above the ceiling panels is also the primary area where systems such as environmental control systems of the aircraft and support structure of the aircraft are present.
Installing a standard, lowered ceiling oxygen box in the high density areas above raised ceiling panels of an aircraft cabin requires access to the oxygen box from above the ceiling level for maintenance. This would necessitate structural modifications of the aircraft above the ceiling panels and would require rerouting of systems such as the environmental control systems of the aircraft. Such structural modifications and rerouting of systems, even under a best case scenario, would result in a circuitous maintenance access path as well as creating additional constraints for the already tightly packaged environmental control systems and electrical systems above the ceiling panels of the aircraft cabin. Additionally, the oxygen box of a current oxygen box assembly requires access to opposite sides of the box above the ceiling panel for removal and servicing of the oxygen box.